Escape // Jacob Sartorius

"I Can't Do This Anymore"

"We're here, come on."

We are in the driveway of a large, Victorian-style house. The front door swings open and a woman my mom's age walks out. I assume that's Mrs. Sartorius.

She hugs my mom, who begins sobbing immediately. This is the first time she's gotten upset through this all. It worries me. When Mom calms down, she opens the trunk and we get my stuff out.

"Hi, Meredith! I'm Lauren. The last time I saw you, you were a baby. You'll be safe here now," she tells me.

I awkwardly smile and grab all of my bags. Mom and Lauren carry the boxes.
We go inside and that's when I see him.

Jacob Sartorius.

You've got to be kidding me

This makes sense now.

"Hi! I'm Jacob," he says. No shit, Sherlock.

"I'm Meredith," I say sullenly. No way am I being friendly to the Musical.ly star my friends and I have always made fun of.

The duffle bag falls off my shoulder and I drop one of the rolling bags. Jacob picks them up and carries them for me. I roll my eyes when he's not looking at me. Such a suck up.

"Your room is upstairs, next to Jacob's," Mrs. Sartorius tells me. Great.

We all walk upstairs and they put my stuff down in the floor of my new room. I survey it. It's a little bare, but at least I can decorate it.

My mom and Lauren leave, but Jacob still stands there.

JACOBS POV

"Um, can I help you?" Meredith asks, obviously annoyed.

"This use to be Caroline's room, but she went to college. I've been lonely since then. I'm glad you're moving in. It'll be nice to have someone else around," I say. What am I even blabbing about?
But God, she's so pretty. Why am I so nervous? I've talked to girls before.

"Yeah, great, cool story. Bye now." she pushes me out and closes the door.

Feisty. I like it.

MEREDITH'S POV

In two hours, I'm unpacked. I liked the color of the walls and my bed spread already matched. Unfortunately, after all that unpacking, I'm starving. I walk downstairs, looking for my mom. I wonder when she's leaving to go home.

Finally, I see her walking out the front door. I try to catch up to her, but she's walking too fast. I follow her through the neighborhood.

What is going on? You would think she wouldn't just go on a walk in a neighborhood she barely knows.

We come to a path and then a small lake. If I weren't concerned with Mom, it would seem really pretty.

Mom stands on the the bridge, over the water.

My heart sinks as I realize what she's doing.

"Mom what are you doing?" I ask, panicked. If she's doing what I think she's doing, I might as well be dead, too.

"Your brother turned up dead. I'm so sorry, Meredith. I can't do this anymore. Just know that I love you so, so much and I'm so proud of you. Be good to the Sartoriuses," she says quietly, tears streaming down her face.

And then she jumps.

"MOOOOOOMMMMM!" I scream.

I run over, but I can't see her anymore. I can't breathe all of a sudden, and I fall to my knees on the ground. My mom. My favorite person in the whole world. My best friend. My protector, my everything. And she's gone.

In a numb state, I pull out my phone, shaking, and dial 911 for the second time in my life. As the operator picks up, the tears begin streaming out of my eyes.

"911, what's your emergency?" the operator asks. I don't think I can speak, but I force myself to open my mouth.

"I just moved here a-and my m-mom just jumped off a bridge. I d-don't know where I am b-but I followed a path and th-there's a forest in fr-front of me. Please help!" I choke out, sobbing. This is the worst possible situation I could be in. My mom is potentially dead, my brother's dead, I don't know where I am, and I'm stuck with some strangers for the rest of my life. In the moment, I'm about to follow my mom, but I stop myself when the operator begins talking again.

"Okay, we're sending an officer your way. Can you see your mom from where you are?" the operator asks kindly. I continue to sob and don't think I can answer.

"No."

"Alright. What's your name, age, and your mom's name?" the lady asks again.

"Meredith Roberts, I'm th-thirteen, and my mom's name is Amy Roberts," I manage to say.

"Did she jump, or did she fall?" the operator asks quietly. I can tell in my sobbing state that I got to her. I mean, how many calls do they get from kids whose parents are committing suicide?

"Sh-she jumped."

That's definitely a phrase I never thought I would be saying on the phone to a 911 operator.

The rest of the conversation happens in a blur. All I know is that when I hear sirens and I get off the phone with the operator, I turn around and I see him.

Jacob.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I yell through my tears.

"I'm so sorry, Meredith. I-I followed you here. I watched it all," he says, looking at the ground.

"Just leave. Get out. I don't want you here," I say, softer this time, covering my face with my hands.

"Meredith, I'm not leaving you here alone. I know you don't want anything to do with me, but I'm all you've got right now," Jacob says gently.

"You-you little bitch! How could you be so insensitive? My mom just jumped off a bridge and my brother died, and you tell me you're all I've got? I hope you go straight to hell," I scream.  Jacob's face drops immediately.

"Meredith, I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it," he says apologetically. I suddenly burst into tears again.

"It's o-okay," I whisper. Jacob wraps his arms around me tentatively just as the police cars round the corner.

"If you let me, believe me, I won't let you down. Not like your family, not like other boys. I can't promise you happiness, but I can promise you one thing: through all this darkness, I'll be your escape. Okay?" he whispers in my ear.

"Jacob," I sob, putting my face in his shoulder. I barely know him, but do I care? No, I think I might like him.

A/N: i don't actually know jacob's mom's name, so we're just going to stick with Lauren right now haha, please vote and comment!